Elections

Business

Amrit Kaal: India to be a $5 trillion economy, Modi govt says in Parliament

December 4, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: A day after the BJP retained Madhya Pradesh and wrested Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress, and the fired-up stock markets reflected the political stability and continuity in India, the government told Parliament that South Asian country is set to become a USD 5 trillion economy during the Amrit Kaal […]

Business

Economy: India outperforms estimates, runs at over 7%; govt may revise projections

December 1, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: In its exponential post-pandemic recovery, the world’s fastest-growing Indian economy has not only left other challengers behind, it is outperforming its own estimates, encouraging the government to rethink and possibly revise earlier projections. With the government on Thursday releasing the GDP data for the second quarter (July-September) of the current […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Amid US envoy’s meeting with him in jail, PTI denies Imran won’t contest party polls

November 29, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Sensing the popular support growing for Imran Khan, imprisoned since August and fighting dozens of court cases, the US Ambassador to Pakistan is reported to have met the former Prime Minister in a Rawalpindi jail to reset America’s relations with him, the media reported on Tuesday. Apparently, the US wants […]

Business

Roving Periscope: A decade after brouhaha, China tries to relaunch its BRI

November 28, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: That China’s multinational dream project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), may have turned into a nightmare for many was no secret. Even India’s neighbor has seen the BRI’s flagship, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), go nowhere near completion after a decade. Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zambia, Malaysia…Italy. These and more […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Despite irritants, Canada softens, India resumes e-visas

November 23, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: The growing proximity in the last few years between India and the West, especially the US, prompted the global anti-India lobby to fire on all cylinders: it relentlessly planted and amplified anti-Hindu stories in the obliging media, resuscitated the comatose Khalistani activists within and without, reactivated the Pakistan-based Islamist terror […]

Business

Future is Now: Argentina gets a ‘madman’ as new President!

November 21, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Argentina’s new President-elect, his followers claim, is a ‘madman’ who takes advice from his dogs! Not just this. He has even denounced Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, as an ‘imbecile’ and a ‘filthy leftist’. Notably, the Pope has no dearth of enemies in his predominantly Roman Catholic homeland and […]

Business

Pakistan: IMF says Islamabad requires USD 25 billion as foreign loan this year

November 18, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised Pakistan’s foreign loan requirements downwards from USD 28.4 billion in July to USD 25 billion now for this year, but it is unlikely to give any respite to the near-bankrupt country. This revision came after the global lender’s delegation wrapped up two-week-long talks […]

Business

Economy: India to be among top three in ‘my third tenure,’ says PM Modi

November 8, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Exuding confidence of a win in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, due by May 2024, two-term Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India’s economy will be among the top three during his third tenure. Addressing a public meeting in Damoh town of Madhya Pradesh, amid a campaign for the […]

Business

Economy: Pakistan’s debt servicing cost may go up to PKR 8.5 trillion

November 7, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Nearly bankrupt, Pakistan has informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that its debt servicing costs may go up to PKR 8.5 trillion in the current financial year and that efforts are being made to lower this projection through adjustments in debt maturity profiles. A substantial portion of this debt is […]

Business

Economy: India’s GDP is up, but any hike in crude prices could dent progress

November 6, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: As rating agency Fitch on Monday upgraded India’s mid-term GDP growth forecast from 5.5 percent earlier to 6.2 percent now, investment banker Morgan Stanley cautioned that any crude price hike above USD 110 per barrel might force the RBI to increase interest rates again. For 2023-24, Fitch said the Indian […]